As you look on the church landscape, youth are leaving the faith in droves.

The modern church, overall, is struggling to reach the next generation with the gospel.



What has happened?

Whether for good or bad, men, for many years, have been inventing solutions or brainstorming ideas without fully relying upon the foundation of God’s Word.

God, however, is greater than man, and as the heavens are above the earth, so are His ways higher than ours and His thoughts than our thoughts (Is. 55:8-9).

We have substituted the greater for the lesser – God’s wisdom for man’s ideas.

Jesus said that he who hears His Word and does it, is like a man that built his house upon a rock, and when the storm came, it stood firm.

On the other hand, he who rejects His Word, is like a man who built on the sand and when the storm came, the house fell (Matt. 7:24-25).

Shouldn’t the church, as a whole, abandon the sandy ideas of man and shamelessly return to the firm rock of the Word of God?

God’s Word sufficiently identifies how youth are to be reached.



For more information on this issue, please see the film Divided, which is a documentary on age-segregated youth ministry in America. Watch it for free (for a limited time) at www.dividedthemovie.com.

For an in-depth study, the book A Weed in the Church delves into the topic and more thoroughly handles the Scripture passages that address ministry to young people.



For other details or to help spread the message, visit http://www.dividedthemovie.com/.

Fun with I & E

One of our favorite things to do is have I & E over to play. They are almost 5 and 2. We have soo much fun, playing with duplos, watercolor painting, jumping on the mini-tramp, playing with ALL the baby dolls, reading, eating lunch....

As soon as they leave, my 2 ask, "When can they come back?" So we pretty much have a standing date for Tuesday at 9.

Todays question from E, "Miss Susan, where is your 'bebe'?"

Me, "My baby's are Daniel and Sarah."

E: "Miss Susan, where is your bebe?"

E has a new baby brother, born this past mother's day, and I guess he thinks that no home is complete without a "bebe".

They grow up too fast!!

Some thing's I've been reminded of since we've been having I & E over this summer.

• If your spoons are too big for a 2-year-old mouth, a small measuring spoon works just fine.
• If said 2-year-old gets a measuring spoon to eat with, his big sister will need one too.
• I can read the same story over and over and over and over...
• Play-dough is fun
• So is painting
• A manicure by an almost 5-year-old is soo fun!! ( you should have seen my purple nails!)

I LOVE kids!! Even in the midst of headaches, hot weather, whatever, taking care of someone's children always brings a smile to me face and fills me with joy.
Thank you to all the parents who let me watch their children. It means a lot to me.

Sarah's 10th Birthday

We celebrated Sarah's 10th birthday this past Sunday. We had both sets of grandparents, 8 kids plus our 2, 2 sets of parents and 2 single gals, for a total of 20 people!

She had a great time playing dodge ball, having a super- soaker fight, icing cupcakes, watching "Pinky and the Brain".

We started after church with lunch around 1 and had folks here until 8. Most of them left by 5, but we had also offered to "babysit" one families kids so they could have a church meeting.

It was a tiring, busy, fun day. After all, 10 is special, it's the first time you have 2 digits in your age.


Thanks to Karl for manning the grill, I kept forgetting and the dogs would've been burnt.
Thanks to my Mom for the photos, I'll get a digital camera one of these days.
Thanks to Pam for helping with the cupcakes,

Especially, Thanks to everyone for giving up Sunday afternoon naps, letting their kids get way too tired, wet, full of sugar, over-stimulated watching goofy cartoons, and whatever else they got into.

It was a wonderful day, full of fun, no fights, laughter and conversation.

come back again!!